Trump: "America First" at United Nations General Assembly 2017 Debut

UNITED NATIONS — President Donald Trump made his debut at the United Nations on Monday, using his first moments at the world body to urge the 193-nation organization to reduce bureaucracy and costs while more clearly defining its mission around the world.

But while Trump chastised the United Nations — an organization he sharply criticized as a candidate for president for its spiraling costs — he said the United States would "pledge to be partners in your work" in order to make the U.N. "a more effective force" for peace across the globe.

"In recent years, the United Nations has not reached its full potential due to bureaucracy and mismanagement," said Trump, who rebuked the United Nations for a ballooning budget. "We are not seeing the results in line with this investment."

The president pushed the U.N. to focus "more on people and less on bureaucracy" and to change "business as usual and not be beholden to ways of the past which were not working" while also suggesting that the United States was paying more than its fair share to keep the New York-based world body operational.

But he also complimented the steps the United Nations had taken in the early stages of the reform process and made no threats to withdraw his nation's support. His measured tone stood in stark contrast to his last maiden appearance at a global body, when he stood at NATO's new Brussels headquarters in May and scolded the member nations for not paying enough and refusing to explicitly back its mutual defense pact.